Garment district building fire deemed suspicious by arson investigators

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Arson investigators say a fire at a building in the garment district early Saturday morning has been deemed suspicious in nature.

Fire officials received word about the blaze at around 2:30 a.m. after a man sleeping in a nearby building called 911.

When firefighters arrived on the 1400 block of Santee Street in downtown Los Angeles, they found heavy fire and smoke coming from a one-story commercial building in the area, with flames shooting through the roof.

"At one point, we had flame lengths up to about 25, 30 feet above the roofline," said Battalion Chief David Perez.

Eighty firefighters knocked down the blaze in a little under an hour. Most of the damage was contained to a fabric store called K1. Two neighboring structures also sustained some smoke damage, fire officials said.

No injuries were reported.

The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation. The estimated dollar damage was not immediately available.

Firefighters knocked down another commercial fire Saturday in Compton. This blaze erupted inside a strip mall near Compton Boulevard and Bulls Road shortly after midnight.

Investigators said the fire started at a Mexican restaurant and spread to two other businesses. The fire was knocked down and no one was injured.